I've had stuff on my mind lately. I have a lot of stuff and it's starting to feel heavy- especially the supplies for making. I have a lot more than I'll use in any reasonable time period- I hesitate to call SABLE because I'm only 34, and I could get much faster at crafting after I retire in 35-40 years... But still. I have stuff in part because I think the materials are beautiful in and of themselves, and mostly because I practice a kind of delusional magical thinking, "If I have the stuff, I'll also (somehow) have the time."

We are not financially well-off; we're not destitute, and in many socio-economic ways we're actually quite privileged, but there's not really a ton of disposable income around these parts, and these days there's even less than usual because of choices we are consciously and happily making. All of that is to say, I also feel the weight of "wasted" money in addition to the physical evidence that my ability to live within reality is questionable at best.

So, all of this is to say, I would be much happier if I were to take the time to purge the bulk of the weight of my stuff. But, the guilt of having it in the first place is keeping my from acting, and there's still that part of me that somehow believes I will learn how to forgo sleep in order to knit more.

Tour de Fleece is upon us, tomorrow, so I'm plotting the next three weeks and two days of spinning. I'd like to finish a spin a week; it'll be a big push, but I think I can, I think I can.

7/2 - 7/10: Starting out with a bang, I'd like to start and finish a combo spin of two four ounce braids of BFL from Big Alice Dyes.

7/11 - 7/16: We'll be camping in Colorado this week, so I'll bring a drop spindle (not sure which one) and a smaller bump of fiber. I'm leaning towards half an ounce of silk hankies, or mawatas.

7/17 - 7/24: I'd like to finish up with another combo spin-- this one I half-prepped a million years ago but never got around to actually putting it on a wheel. Four ounces of Polwarth/Silk from Abstract Fiber and four ounces of Polwarth from Two if By Hand.

I'll be knitting Baby vertebrae this month - finishing the one and casting on at least one more (I have a plan for two more... they're quite addictive).

I think I need to institute a "quilt an hour a week" rule; quilting (unlike spinning or knitting) doesn't lend itself to fifteen minutes a day-- it might for people who have a different set-up, but for me it can take fifteen minutes to pull out my machine and clear surfaces, so a daily practice doesn't make much sense. So my (new) plan is to quilt for an hour every Sunday. Hopefully structure will help me get back into it!

I've been keeping up with my three things, but they didn't change, so I didn't write about them. Lame, I know.

This week I'm planning on:

knitting the baby vertebrae. The button band is taking me longer than the sweater body.

finishing a spin I started this past week-- a lovely Merino/Bamboo/Silk blend from Pigeonroof Studios.

I should finish the binding on that damn quilt, but maybe I need to try a little amuse-bouche to get me going again. I just found a pattern for a pillow with a pocket that's perfect for sticking a picture book in as a gift.

I had a thought of an organizing schema for projects-- because those usually work so well for me, and yet my love of lists continues to compel me to create them-- that could help to diversify my efforts even as I work through my backlog of projects.

My knitting pattern library is quite large... 3,178 patterns according to Ravelry, and I fear that may be understating it a bit. I love every inch and byte of it, but I do worry I'm not doing it justice. So, my thought: Much like those cook-through-a-book-in-a-year goals, what if I systematically reached for a new project from a different source in my library each time I cast on? No time limit (besides my life time) and if an occasion calls for going out of order, no penalties. This is less of a challenge and more of a lifestyle, I think. Also, if I find myself paging through a beautiful book but don't want to make anything in it, I'll know that either I need to commit to owning this item as a work of art, or I need to pass it along to someone who will love it appropriately.

Here's my list, approximately in order of how it appears on my bookshelf, which seems as good an order as any other:

It's not that I ignored week three, but I've been very lax on pictures. There are pictures this week, so at least there's that.

In knitting this week I plan to diligently work on the baby vertebrae I started last week. It's incredibly addicting, and I'm already to the point of adding the band and sleeves... which is good because I'm planning at least one-- maybe even two-- more. There are a lot of babies around these parts lately, and considering how slowly I quilt it seems like a good idea to build up a small stash of these small garments.

For spinning this week I think I'm going to focus on my support spindle. I ended up tossing the Lorna's Laces, and I'm just not feeling the spinning mojo right now-- maybe because it's really hot and sticky. I have some Northbound Knitting Falkland on a series of support spindles started, it's possible I can finish it up this week with some effort.

I'm still working on sewing the binding on that damn quilt. I think I should spend tomorrow buckling down and getting it done...

Essentially, the years I spent teaching in Arizona, and all the endorsements I have from that time, don't count in California because (a) they happened before I had my MAT (I taught in Arizona as a Highly Qualified teacher under NCLB, using my BA but without a license), and (b) California doesn't recognize Arizona programs as rigorous enough to warrant notice-- which I can't exactly argue with. And, since I never taught full-time in my own classroom in Oregon, and I've only taught here in a private (sorry, "independent") school, the teachers' commission here is treating me as though I have no teaching experience despite being monumentally overeducated for the California credentialing process. So, that's fun.

It wouldn't be too terrible if I thought we were going to stay in California for longer than a year, but with Devin graduating next year my best guess is that we're moving states again, and probably not back to anywhere we've lived before. So it hardly seems worth it to clear my credential here when I'm going to have to go through the process of becoming credentialed-- or licensed-- in a fourth state relatively soon. At least my education always transfers, even if the various state-specific tests and certificates and endorsements for teaching English Language Learners don't. I have looked into National Teaching Boards, but they make a person choose Math OR Science, and that's just not how I roll, philosophically speaking.

So, I'll probably deal with the ELL thing this summer, just because that piece of it might actually do me some good in the future even if we do move, and then switch my focus to applying to doctoral programs. If, after Devin graduates, we end up staying in California after all, I have until 2021 to clear the rest of the paperwork-- and I can still work here, even in the public schools, in the meantime.

In other news of which I do not have pictures: I ended up tossing the felted wool, and I got distracted by baby knitting. Something about tiny garments with stripes is absolutely addicting.

Having three things to work on during the week- one knitting, one spinning, and one sewing- was useful, even if it didn't quite turn out as expected, so I'm going to do it again. I appreciate having a self-imposed limit on the number of WiPs that can guilt-trip me from their corners, and it helped focus my energy. For instance, I figured out that I'm actually avoiding spinning because I hate my current spin that much.

spinning the same Lorna's Laces top. This week, if I actively avoid it, I'll bin the whole thing on Saturday because life is short and I have a lot of wool.

sewing the binding on the baby quilt from last week-- I've re-watched and re-read all the tutorials I could find, and I feel ready. Ish. Also, I've started planning my next quilt, and I'm eager to get to that one so I really need to get finished on this one!

According to my plan for the week, I'm knitting a cowl, spinning Lorna's Laces top, and binding a baby quilt. I finished the cowl at the beginning of the week.

Devin modeling Timothy's cowl. It has a twist which was deliberate, but I kind of hate it... I'm thinking about steeking it and attempting a crazy fix, but don't know how that will go in a silk blend. It also blocked oddly, so I might try re-blocking it before I take scissors to it.

Now, I assumed that having finished one item I would choose to work on one of the other two on my list-- at least while I was home. It made total sense to stick a sock for train-knitting in my purse, but I figured while I was home I'd spin or sew.

Not so much.

Apparently, I'm avoiding the spinning and the sewing even more than I was aware of because all I've worked on this week, besides the cowl, is a long-time sweater WiP. At least I've been working on something, right?